U.S. Domestic Policy

All along the campaign trail, presidential candidates continue to make promises they can’t keep. They promise to give voters trillions in tax cuts while also balancing the budget and protecting popular programs from budget cuts.

Fact-checking journalists and spreadsheet-wielding advocates of fiscal responsibility challenge those assertions, but reach a small slice of the population. So we asked: What else can be done to communicate the scale and scope of the debt problem?

All along the campaign trail, presidential candidates continue to make promises they can’t keep. They promise to give voters trillions in tax cuts while also balancing the budget and protecting popular programs from budget cuts.

Fact-checking journalists and spreadsheet-wielding advocates of fiscal responsibility challenge those assertions but reach a small slice of the population. So we asked: What else can be done to communicate the scale and scope of the debt problem?

In the mid-1970s, the Cold War had frozen into a nuclear stalemate in Europe and retreated from the headlines in Asia. As Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter fought for the presidency in late 1976, the superpower struggle overseas seemed to take a backseat to more contentious domestic issues of race relations and rising unemployment. There was one continent, however, where the Cold War was on the point of flaring hot: Africa.

Please join the Wilson Center as Secretary Jeh C. Johnson, the fourth Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, delivers his final State of Homeland Security address, entitled “DHS: Progress in 2015, Goals for 2016.” Secretary Johnson oversees the United States' third largest Cabinet department and leads the nation’s efforts to counter a broad range of threats, from terrorism to natural disasters. Secretary Johnson's remarks will be followed by a question & answer session with the Center's Director, President & CEO Jane Harman.

The United States has the world’s most permissive speech laws. That wasn’t always true, however, and leading constitutional scholar Philippa Strum explains how and why it happened. The story involves both a radical descendent of Mayflower Pilgrims named Anita Whitney and Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis. Strum also explores the question of whether such a liberal approach to speech is the right policy in today’s world, given cyberbullying, terrorist recruitment on the Internet, sexting, and the absence of gatekeepers in the world of the Web.

The Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability in the sale, rental and financing of housing-related transactions. Intentional discrimination resulting in disparate treatment is forbidden.

The drug lord known as “El Chapo” has escaped from a maximum security prison for a second time. What are the implications for Mexico’s war on organized crime? Mexico Institute Director Duncan Wood provides an overview.

The news that the former U.S. schoolteacher Jennifer Fichter was sentenced to 22 years in prison for multiple counts of sex with minors caused an uproar on Russian social media. The story was covered by major national news portals, attracting thousands of mainly indignant comments.

The Wilson Center, chartered by Congress as the living memorial to President Woodrow Wilson, is the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum. In tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue, the Center informs actionable ideas for Congress, the administration, and the broader policy community.